Home is Where the Heart is
by EgyptianStargazer
Summary: In which Bilbo must learn to walk both winding and narrow paths of life. Beta: K8DGR81
1. Chapter 1

Well this was just perfect!

He wasn't sure what just happened. The whole Misty Mountain moving was still making him think he had landed smack dab in one of his adventure books. Once again he felt totally helpless and useless to the group as they were separated. He recalled both Mister Dwalin and Bofur keeping him steady, while he watched Fili and Kili reach for each other (that really made his heart ache). Not once had he seen them separated. Bilbo shook his head; he seriously should not be thinking that right now.

Cause there he was, poor Bilbo Baggins clinging to the side of the cliff. He really should have yelled for help, but he was scared. It took all of his concentration just to hold on, waiting for someone to notice him.

Bilbo let out a shuddering breath, he could feel his fingers starting to go numb. He squeezed his eyes shut, 'Please…someone…Bofur.'

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Bofur sighed with relief as he leaned back against the rocky mountain side. That had been a rather close call with Rock Giants and their performance in a Thunder Battle. Overall he was just pleased that they had all made it out alive. He grinned when he thought of Bilbo clinging to him and turned to speak with his Hobbit, "Well…that was close. Wasn't it Mister-"

He paused, noticing that the Halfling was not to his left. Bofur took a quick glimpse to his right to see no one next to him there, either.

"Where's the Halfling?!"

That grabbed everyone's attention, even Thorin's. Many of them turned around and glanced in every direction, Bifur even went as far as to make sure the Hobbit didn't somehow back track on the trail. He had to be here somewhere!

Bofur paused in mid-scan of the ledge and nearly tripped over himself when he figured out where the little one could be. He peeked over the side of the cliff in hopes that essence of Hobbit was not smeared across the mountain side. "Bilbo!"

It unnerved him the way his little one looked up with a mix of relief and fear. For a moment Bofur wondered why Bilbo had not yelled for help, although he figured that could wait until later - first he had to get his Hobbit.

He started leaning over the edge, "Hold on Bilbo, I got ya-" Oh not good, a bit not good. He couldn't reach, damn his short arms!

"I-" He made eye contact with Bilbo, who was mirroring the same fear he felt. "I can't reach him!"

Bofur wasn't too shocked when a bunch of their company members came rushing over to see if they could reach their friend. Fili and Kili were on either side of him trying their hardest to lean down without falling over themselves. Along with Ori, who bless his heart was trying to help, but he too was too short to reach their Hobbit.

Bofur watched as their wondrous leader leapt down without warning and hoisted Bilbo by the back of his rucksack, right into his awaiting arms. It was the most wonderful weight the Miner dwarf had felt in ages. The next time they were on a mountain side he was making sure to tie Bilbo to himself, for this was not happening again, no sirree.

Bofur vaguely heard Dwalin grunt, and glanced over his shoulder to see Thorin being pulled up by him and Fili. The ax wielding Dwarf smiled over at the two of them, "For a minute there I thought we'd lost our Burglar."

"He's been lost ever since he left home."

Bofur felt Bilbo tense in his arms. He himself wasn't even sure how to take that. He, of course, just kept glancing between Thorin and Bilbo, hoping his Hobbit didn't take it to heart. Bofur lifted the halfling up, whispering in his ear as the exiled prince barked out an order to get themselves into the cave.

"Don't worry, my little one. He didn't mean it."

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"Where do you think you're going?"

Bilbo cringed, he was a fool not to remember Bofur was keeping watch at the moment. He had almost made it too. He took a deep breath, then peered over at Bofur. Sweet caring Bofur, who was looking at him with such concern under his perturbed look. The Baggins of Bag End bit his lower lip, he honestly wasn't ready to face the music on this one, but it seemed he was going to have to.

He masked his face, hoping the emotions didn't leak through his eyes, "Back to Rivendell."

The look that crossed Bofur's face nearly made the Halfling stop and just turn back. For it was slowly breaking his heart.

"No. No," Bilbo watched as his love jumped up from his sitting spot to stand close to him, "You can't turn back now. You're part of the company. You're one of us. I lo-"

Bilbo Baggins knew what words were coming out next, but he didn't want to hear them. It would be harder to leave once he heard them. Even if he wished for all of Middle Earth that he could hear those three words from the dwarf that caught his heart, he just couldn't let that happen. "I'm not now, am I? Thorin said I should have never have come and he was right."

He shrugged his shoulder, taking a deep breath and looked Bofur straight in the eyes, "I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door." He knew that this was the right thing to do. The sooner he left, the less likely one of them would die because of him. He had always thought he was a hazard to the group and today had proven it.

"You're homesick, that's all. I understand," Bofur placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Bilbo tensed; did the goofy, fun-loving dwarf not see that he, a Baggins, was going to cause people to get hurt?!

"No, you don't," Bilbo glared at Bofur, something that none of them had thought was possible. "You don't understand, none of you do. You're Dwarves." He motioned with his one free hand towards the rest of the group sleeping in the cave. "You're used to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!"

Oh bugger! Bilbo bit the inside of his cheek; he realized as he watched Bofur's expression falter that he had gone too far. "Bofur I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, you're right," Bilbo watched with a heavy heart that was starting to shatter into little pieces, as Bofur glanced around at the sleeping company. "We don't belong anywhere."

Confound his mouth, he did what his father had told him would get him into trouble just like it had with his mother. The 'Open mouth and insert foot.' Bilbo's attention snapped back to his silly hat wearing dwarf who had placed a hand on his tiny shoulder and patted him.

"I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do. Just remember-"

He frowned when Bofur knit his brows together in confusion. "Bofur?"

"What's that?"

Bilbo blinked, noticing that the dwarf was pointing at his sheathed letter opener. Which was emitting light. The Halfling's eyes widened in horror as he jerked his sword out of his scabbard. Blue light illuminated the whole cave opening, bathing them both in the elven blade's glow.

The Hobbit and Dwarf gazed at each other, only to snap out of it when Thorin began to holler out orders to move. Bilbo felt Bofur begin to hustle him out of the cave, he began to protest just when the ground underneath them gave way.

"BILBO!"

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He felt the rush of air, then landed on something only to move down. It reminded him of the days that he and his cousins used to slide down a hollowed out tree trunk. Yet that was fun, whereas this was terribly horrifying and he hoped with all his little Hobbit heart that this never was repeated...AGAIN! Lucky for him, when he landed, he was the last one and on top of a pile of dwarves. Bilbo's head whipped in every direction looking for Bofur. He couldn't lose him now that they were all in a strange cave.

The Halfling's head snapped up when he heard the most terrifying sound since the Warg's attacked them. He looked up to see creatures of every shape and size rush at them in the pen they were in and drag them forward. Bilbo moved along with them, glancing about to find Bofur. He blinked when he noticed that no one was touching him.

Bilbo slowly knelt to the ground, waiting as the others passed. He was awfully surprised that that even worked. He blinked a few times, watching as the pack of whatever the heck those foul creatures were carried his company of dwarves off. He bit on his lower lip, once in a while glancing down at his still glowing sword.

"I must be out of my mind," Bilbo pulled his sword out and started moving forward. He was going to get his Bofur back, along with the rest of the company. He couldn't just let them get tortured by random creatures that lived in the dark! Not while he was here.

The Hobbit was halfway across a bridge when a creature jumped out at him. He let out a gasp as it advanced towards him. A scuffle broke out and he was relieved when he somehow tossed it to the side. Sadly he was tossed along with it. Bilbo yelled out as he fell, wondering the whole tumble down if he would ever see Bofur again.


	2. Chapter 2

Relief swept over him as he caught sight of the company and Bofur at the end of the tunnel. Never in his life had he been so glad to see the crazy group of dwarves he had come to care for some much. Sure the whole lot of them drove him crazy at times (especially Fili and Kili), but wasn't that what families did?

Bilbo paused for a moment, as he glanced down at the golden ring around his middle finger. It dawned on him that none of his companions could see him either, not even their wizard friend, Gandalf.

Well this was just peachy!

Before the master of Bag End could even remove the ring, the creature Gollum (whom he had almost forgotten about) started shivering. Bilbo glared down at the horrible creature. The thing didn't even deserve to live, he'd say. He drew his sword and pulled it back, then swung it forward only to stop at its neck.

The halfling huffed, pulling his blade back again only to pause as he gazed once more at the pitiful creature before him. He blinked when the wise words of a certain wizard began to rise to the forefront of his mind.

"True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

Bilbo sighed; he pitied this creature, for he would never know what it was like to be loved or be in love with someone. A sudden urge overtook the young hobbit. He needed to get to his dwarf, and fast.

Before Bofur thought he was long gone.

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There had once been a time when all he wanted to do was stay in the mines of Erebor. He recalled how Bombur had had to ask Bifur to come haul his sorry butt out of the caves just so he could make it on time for supper. In which case afterwards he would go back down to work a few more hours before he had to actually go to bed. Now...now he was glad to see the light of day again. Never before had he wanted out from under the mountains. Funny how bloody goblins can change one's tune. Bofur smiled as he passed their wizard friend.

"Five, six, seven, eight. Bifur, Bofur, that's ten. Fíli, Kíli, that's twelve. And Bombur, that makes thirteen."

Wait...thirteen? There was fourteen in their group, not counting Gandalf of course. Bofur whipped his head about. His eyes scanning the whole lot of them for that speck of dirty blonde hair.

"Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!"

It felt like a ton of rocks had settled at the bottom of his stomach. He couldn't see his hobbit anywhere. How on earth did he go this whole time without noticing Bilbo's absence?! One would have thought the lad would speak up about how awful the Great Goblin was. This whole time the miner had figured Bilbo was using his special hobbit skills Gandalf had been going on and on about when they first met up at his hobbit hole.

Bofur pulled on the ear flaps of his hat in frustration and worry. He was a fool of a dwarf for not realizing that Bilbo had become separated from him.

He heard Dwalin growl a bit, "Curse the halfling! Now's he's lost!"

Lost…

Bofur groaned silently to himself. Bilbo lost in those forsaken caves. Perhaps never to see the light of day again. The dwarf felt a tad woozy after thinking such a thought. No, he had to remember Bilbo Baggins was an amazing hobbit. Not to mention incredibly smart.

"I thought he was with Dori!"

"OI! Don't blame me!"

Bofur shook his head. If he was himself he would have spoken up to say Bilbo was with him last. About to abandon them…him, for which he couldn't blame the halfling. He missed his home, his comfortable lifestyle. He would have done the same if he was in his hobbit's place. Yet…for once, he wished he had told him how he really felt before the mass chaos erupted on them in the form of goblins. Cause if he had, then perhaps, none of this would have happened.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us."

"What happened, exactly? Tell me!"

The silly dwarf blinked, did he just hear Nori correctly? Did he just say Bilbo slipped away before they were cornered? Bofur yanked on his hat again, that meant his little one was trying to stay hidden to get them out later. He just knew it. His eyes glanced around the company before landing on his brother. Bombur was openly staring at him with a mix of concern and curiosity. He gave him a weary smile, which fell when Thorin spoke up.

"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again, he is long gone."

Now wait just a darn minute here! Whose hobbit was he? Bofur clenched his hands around his pickaxe now, sending a slight glare over towards their leader. Sure, Bilbo was his own hobbit and wasn't owned by anyone, and sure, he was a member of this family. But Bilbo Baggins was HIS hobbit. Before the slightly miffed dwarf could say anything, a rather familiar voice spoke up.

"No, he isn't."

Bofur looked up at the small hill in disbelief. For there in front of him was none other than his little one.

Bilbo Baggins.

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"Bilbo Baggins. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my entire life."

He broke out in a grin as he clapped Balin on the shoulder. It was all worth it for the look on Thorin's face when he suddenly appeared. He stole a quick glance at Bofur before the troublesome duo approached him.

"Bilbo," Kili beamed down at him, "We'd given you up!"

While Fili still appeared to be glad to see him, it seemed he had other things on his mind. "How on earth did you get past the goblins?"

"How indeed?" Dwalin added in.

Oh bugger. He should have seen this question coming a mile away. Yet he had hoped that no one would ask and would just be content that he was back among them. Clearly that idea was shot down in a burst of glorious flames. He nervously chuckled, glancing at his hat-wearing dwarf while he stealthily slipped the cool ring off of his finger and into his pocket.

Bilbo's eyes caught Bofur's and it seemed like ages until someone interrupted the moment.

"Oh, what does it matter? He's back."

"It matters." The hobbit of Bag End wanted to give Thorin a stern look. He'd spent what felt like a lifetime trying to get out of those blasted caves by answering riddle after riddle just to see Bofur again and this is what he got, an interrogation. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

Bilbo stared at their leader. The one future King of Erebor, the one who kept giving him the worst mixed signals in the company, was actually wondering why he was with them even now. The hobbit wanted to roll his eyes, this Durin was sure late to the party.

"Look, I know you doubt me. I know…I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong." He didn't skip a beat when he looked right at Bofur. "That's home."

"And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you, but I'll help you take it back if I can."

Bilbo noticed Bofur smiling like an idiot as he leaned on his pickaxe, tears starting to form in his eyes. He couldn't help but smile back. For someone who always joked around saying the company was full of half wits and complete idiots, he sure as Valar knew how to read subtext. Sure, he did love his home, his cozy hole in the rolling green hills of the Shire. But what was home without the one you loved most?

For home is where the heart is.


End file.
